is lansing IL going down the tube? (Calumet City, Harvey: section 8, for sale)

[area55]

I love lansing, I bought my house 6 month ago. I have great neighbors and i love
the small town feel. But i have a nagging feeling it is going the way of calumet city
south holland and lynnwood. Any oppinions?

[star of the show]

I have lived in Lansing for 12 years and while it is changing, it's a process that has been happening for a very long time. If it continues to integrate this slowly then it should stabilize and be another Homewood. I am not in fear of my life or thinking that we should move at all. I love this town and don't feel that there is anything comparable to move to out there - nice town, nice people, low housing price.

[rubber duck]

Originally Posted by area55

I love lansing, I bought my house 6 month ago. I have great neighbors and i love
the small town feel. But i have a nagging feeling it is going the way of calumet city
south holland and lynnwood. Any oppinions?

Where lansing will be in five years is probably worse than where it's at now. Take a look at the volume of houses that are for sale in town. Lansing will not be another Homewood. Have you seen the home prices in Homewood? There's no way people without decent jobs could move there! Lansing is different, you have an abundance of $140k cape cods and bungalows. Also section 8 apartments and HUD houses are becoming more prevalent. I probably won't be around in 5 years to see what it will be like.

[Ice124]

i've definitly noticed the changes, did you see the graffiti on thr park sign? (Okay not much but still it's a start) The highschool isn't so good anymore, its not bad, it just isn't good, as my parents are having me transfer from south to somewhere else at the start of the new sesmester. It's still an okay place, but for how long?

[MacScotsman]

The part I never understand is why people always associate Lansing and crime. The reported crime statistics show Lansing more or less stable through 2005 (with 2005 being lower that the previous several years). Is the racial make-up of the town changing? Sure. So what? That makes no real difference in how nice a town is. What does make a difference in the attitudes of the people in it.

And as evidence of the town going down the tubes you mention graffitti on a park sign? So one (or a few) stupid kids do some random vandalism, and every jumpy idiot ( who most likely don't even "own" property in the town)decides it's a lost cause?

Please, by that standard I saw grafitti on the side of building in Homewood. So Homewood must be a ghetto. (Which, btw, it is not)

I just hope that anyone reading these forums takes what mosty of the posters say with a grain of salt. There are a few people that raise reasoned concerns, and then then a few who leave me scratching my head as to how they can even say the things they say.

For the record, I've owned a home in Lansing for 5 years, rented in it for 3 years before that, and have had 2 aunts that have owned here since the 80's. It may not be the best suburb, but it's a far cry from the worst, and has a lot to offer.

PS: I refuse to go back and proof-read this, so please excuse my spelling/grammatical mistakes.

[rubber duck]

Get your head out of the sand. You're telling me that when a town changes in it's racial makeup from white to black, like that of like Roseland, Harvey, Dolton, Calumet City, Pheonix, South Holland and Lansing; the town does not make a change for the worse? I need some of what you're smoking, cause it must be some good stuff.

[rubber duck]

Another thing I highly recommend that you do is buy a police scanner. I realize that's kind of an old school thing to do and not many people have them anymore. One thing I can tell you that has changed in Lansing is that the "shots fired" calls even as recent as five years ago were nothing more than kids setting off firecrackers. Today "shots fired" calls are actual gunshots being fired. It's no wonder that as recent as a month ago a man was shot 16 times by the Bernice Rd. apartments, or one of my neighbors on the "nice" south side of town woke up to find a bullet hole through her front picture window, and the slug embedded in the opposing wall.

[apothos1980]

I have lived in Lansingmy entire life. I am a 27 year old male, and I live down the street from Mr. Gyros. Not only have I heard shots fired, but have heard and seen people dressed in black running away from something thru my backyard!! About 5 years ago, the Pioneer motel was my biggest concern with drug busts going on there every weekend by the FBI. They would shut the street down and 15 squads would go in. Now i hear gunshots about once a month, and see people run thru my back yard between 1-3 oclock in the morning. I am told by my parents that the majority of crimes committed in Lansing do not appear in the paper, because in the 1970s there was a murder in Lansing, and the incompetent police department walked all over the crime scene trampling any evidence that may have been there. Due to the embarrassement of the department, the police department no longer reports the crimes. The crimes I do see printed are the stolen cars that occur in the apartments down the street. Lansing used to be a very peaceful town to grow up in, and it is going down the tubes. My parents have lived here for 50+ years, and I have for 27, so take someones word for it who has been here more than 10 years, it will become another Harvey and Dolton, it is already on its way.
Another thing to consider is this, around 1997-98, there were murders in the Beggars Pizza parking lot, has anyone ever heard of this? I doubt it, I know the shooter and the victim, they were both going to my high school, TF South at the time. Just something to consider when thinking if we are going down the tubes or not, also something to think about the paper not writing about.....
It has nothing do to with racial changes. It does have alot to do with section 8 and hud housing coming to the area, race has nothing to do with it, lack of education and parenting have alot to do with it regardless of race. It is a shame that a majority of HUD and section 8 housing are specific races, but that is what it is, it's not because of color, just lack of education and poor parenting skills.

[mn/chicago]

I'm so sad some see lansing going down I visited my sister-in-law the i thought it was a nice place, although it is located close to some undesirable areas. i think in order to stop your community from going to hell, you need to be proactive. report crime when you see it, and don't welcome mess.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by area55

I love lansing, I bought my house 6 month ago. I have great neighbors and i love
the small town feel. But i have a nagging feeling it is going the way of calumet city
south holland and lynnwood. Any oppinions?

South Holland and Lynwood are nowhere near being crime ridden.